What is behind King Tutankhamun's Tomb?
Here I am with another blog here at Artisan's Dominion. Lately everybody's talking about what is hidden behind the walls of King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old burial chamber located in Luxor's Valley of the Kings. Last Thursday (3/17/2016) Mamdouh el-Damaty, who is Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, told at a news conference in Cairo that scans by a Japanese team lead by Hirokatsu Watanabe, revealed two hidden chambers that may contain metal and organic material. He also carefully indicated that the organic material could be anything from a mummy to sarcophagus, pretty much anything. I think at this stage he did the right thing by not speculating any further.
King Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber
What everyone wants to know is if these hidden chambers are indeed tombs, who do they belong to? According to Mamdouh el-Damaty they may be tombs of Tutankhamun’s sister Merit aatun, his mother Kia, or his grandmother, Tiye, but not Queen Nefertiti, However, according to a paper by Nicholas Reeves (August 2015), an Egyptologist with the University of Arizona, Nefertiti's tomb might be hidden in a passageway behind Tutankhamun's tomb.
If you may remember Reeve’s theory started some a conflict among archeologists. Egypt’s former Minister of Antiquities Zawi Hawass said in December 2015: “It's not logical that every archaeologist come up with an idea and you run after him—because theories are not based on evidence. There is not a 1% chance Reeves’s theory is correct.” My humble opinion is at this point we all have to be open minded and very scientific. Well I think time will tell but for now the plot thickens.
Two Hidden Chambers Behind King Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber (Findings released by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities)
Before I start talking more about the main characters of this story I would like to talk about something very dear to me. In Bodrum Museum is the Uluburun Shipwreck exhibit. As I talked about in my first blog this 3,300 year-old shipwreck is immensily important for many reasons. First of all it is one of the world's oldest shipwreck ever discovered. Furthermore it was full of royal treasures! A lot of my historically themes jewelry are in fact inspired by the artifacts recovered from the Uluburun shipwreck just like the Egyptian Bracelet of Good Fortune. Among those my favorite artifact has to be the golden seal of Queen Nefertiti. The only seal of her ever recovered, so unique and so priceless nothing compares to it.
Uluburun Shipwreck Exhibition at Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archeology
I have put a lot of effort into creating a accurate museum quality reproduction of this golden seal. As an artist I have studied every contour and engraving very carefully to accurately match the skill and soul of the ancient artisan who originally created the artifact. Also I have carefully included minor wear and tear cast upon this almost mint condition seal by Father time. Using wax modeling and lost wax casting techniques I finally achieved my goal. I was very happy with the results. Here you can see Queen Nefertiti's golden seal set as a nice 925 Sterling silver signet ring.
Sterling Silver Signet Ring Bearing Queen Nefertiti's Golden Seal
As you can see, since I have a spiritual connection with Queen Nefertiti the latest news were in particular important for me. I am yet to talk about the main characters involved in this story, namely King Tutankhamun and Queen Nefertiti.
King Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh during the New Kingdom Period of ancient Egypt. He was the son of powerful Akhenaten, the heretic king who led the "Amarna Revolution". King Tutankhamun ruled from 1332-1323 B.C. and when was only around 10 years old when he was throned. He accomplished little during his short reign. But due to the discovery of his almost intact tomb in 1922 by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert, he has risen up from the forgotten pages of history.
King Tutankhamun's Death Mask (Carsten Frenzl from Obernburg, Derutschland)
So how was King Tutankhamun connected to Queen Nefertiti? Well, when he was throned, he married Ankhesenamun, his half sister and the daughter of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.
Queen Nefertiti is a prominent figure in Egypt history. Nefertiti was the Wife of King Akhenaten. Nefertiti and Akhenaten started a religious revolution, in which they worshiped one god only, Aten, the sun disc. Under their rule Ancient Egyptian experienced prosperous times. She was exalted with many titles including Hereditary Princess, Great of Praises, Lady of Grace, Sweet of Love and Lady of The Two Lands, She was made famous by her bust, now in Berlin's Neues Museum. The bust is an amazing art piece and it is also extremely important for scientists to judge facial features of Ancient Egyptians.
Queen Nefertiti's Bust (by Philip Pikart)
So I think this pretty much sums it up. As the excitement builds I will try to keep you posted on the news. I personally wish that magnificient treasures including many jewelry pieces emerge from the hidden chambers. I can always use some inspiration.
Hopefully you will enjoy this blog and find it useful in terms of understanding the importance of latest news in archeology. Until next time.
